8 Powerful Marketing Ideas Your Business Should Be Using in 2018

It’s a new year and time to start thinking about what you can do to shake your marketing strategy up in 2018. With more competition than ever before there are plenty of ways you can surprise your target audience with something new and interesting.

1. Blogging

Blogging is one of the cheapest ways to reach lots of people. Building a good blog does take some time, but it’s certainly worth the wait. And if you think you don’t have the time to produce so much content, you can always hire freelance writers and graphic designers to help out.

To build an effective blog, you need a lot of content that contains key information from your industry and gives value to the reader. The more valuable content you share, the more your audience will build up over time as they build trust in your expertise and credibility. Once your blog becomes popular, you can use it to create sales. For example, you may use your blog posts to encourage email signups.

2. Social media marketing

Worldwide, there are over 2 billion users on social media. This is a huge market you should be tapping into, and it’s another relatively low cost marketing option. Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, the list goes on. All of these platforms are unique and require a unique strategy for engagement, so it’s best to choose the most appropriate for your business and master that one first. The benefit of social media marketing is that it can be used to increase traffic to your website and raise brand awareness.

3. Reward people

People love free stuff. This will always be true. Saying thanks to customers with giveaways and free gifts is a great way to gain goodwill and build brand awareness. You might be wondering how much this tactic is going to cost your business, but giveaways don’t have to be expensive. You may want to go with things like branded pens and fridge magnets, but you could also opt for free options like ebooks. Anything you can do to reward your customers will really resonate with them and lead to repeat sales and positive word of mouth for your business.

4. Leveraging the media

Getting your business mentioned in the media is an awesome marketing opportunity and best of all, it’s free. But how do you go about getting a mention? Well, it’s all about doing something that will draw attention to your brand (in a good way, of course). You may go all out with a publicity stunt, or try for something more low key like holding a community event. It’s also a great idea to nominate yourself for a business award – if you win, there’s a guaranteed mention in the media and a legitimate reputation to go with it.

5. Infographics

Nowadays graphics are just as important as the words you use. With so much clutter on the Internet, people don’t have long attention spans, so a short and eye-catching infographic is a popular way to reach your audience. Infographics have the potential to go viral online, so if you have a checklist or instructions you need to explain, rather than writing them out, get a graphic designer to put them into an infographic and get sharing.

6. Referral marketing

A referral program is another way to say thanks to your customers. Referral marketing means offering your current customers a special discount or similar for referring others to the business. You can do this by placing a link in your email marketing and on your business’s website to review websites like Yelp and Tripadvisor, where your customers can post their review of your business. This is a very cost-effective way of not only getting your business’s name out there, but showing your customers you care about their opinions and value them.

7. Video tutorials

Is your business an expert in its field? Do you have a wealth of knowledge to share? Why not set up a YouTube account where you post videos teaching your audience how to do something they wouldn’t ordinarily know how to do? If you can create high quality, instructive and engaging video content, your business will be seen as an authoritative voice in the industry. More people will come to your business if they can see you know what you’re talking about. Like blogging, it may take time to build up an audience, but it’s a great way to build brand awareness and trust. And don’t worry, you don’t have to give away all your business secrets.

Try something new this year

The way we market to our audience is ever changing and it’s important to keep your customers on their toes and even surprise them every once in a while. In 2018, try something new, step outside of your comfort zone and stay ahead of your competition. And if you need help getting started, contact Blue Star Direct.